The history of emotions is an expanding field of research, as the number of conferences, journals and even research centres of excellence attests. No longer treated as immutable constants of human nature, emotions have now become part of cultural history. Its practitioners are interested in emotional repertoires and styles, conventional forms of expressions, historical categorizations and conceptualizations, cultural and gendered meanings and the communicative uses and effects of emotions, analysed within a broad spectrum of cultural and social genres ranging from music and art to religion and politics. The present volume, which focuses on the medieval, renaissance and early modern periods, reflects this breadth. The modern term ‘emotion’ is used here as a catch-all term for what were conceptualized as passions, affects and sentiments by contemporaries in the studied historical contexts. The aim has been not to write a coherent history of continuity and change, but rather to bring together a variety of sub-topics analysed from different disciplinary perspectives and research traditions.

Theoretical Considerations

Change is nonetheless the very issue addressed in the opening essay by medieval historian Barbara H. Rosenwein, a pioneer and leading theorist in the field. Rosenwein brings a fresh perspective to current, dominant narratives of the history of emotions (including her own) and how they account for change.